You're only in trouble if you get caught
by Wonderstruck Pen
Summary: Luke's philosophy and how they've used it on the run. Written for Ship Weeks.


**I know it's been a while since I've updated the Fanfictionary. I'm kind of having selective writer's block. However, I can promise that I'll update for Ship Weeks, even though I know I've been terrible with updates.**

**July 14-20- Thalia and Luke**

**July 21-27- Beckendorf and Silena**

**July 28- August 3- Grover and Juniper**

**August 4-10- Chris and Clarisse**

**August 11-17 Tyson and Ella**

**August 18-24- Frank and Hazel**

**August 25-31- Leo and Hazel**

**September 1-7- Leo and Reyna**

**September 8-14- Jason and Reyna**

**September 15-21- Jason and Piper**

**September 22-28- Free Ship!**

**September 28- October 7- Percy and Annabeth**

**This is probably the longest one-shot I've ever written and I really like it, so I hope you do too. Review!**

**Disclaimer: Je n'ai pas. I'm not sure if I translated that right, since it's been almost two months since my last French class. You get the idea. :D**

* * *

Rain was coming down hard on their safe house's metal roof. Thalia watched Annabeth squirm in her sleep for a while and then got up and went outside. Luke had gone out to find some dry wood they could build a fire with. Thalia settled herself in front the makeshift door. She watch the raindrops trickle down her hand like a teardrop.

"Someone looks like they're thinking especially morbid thoughts today." Luke said from behind her. She looked up at him, startled, and her hand flew to her bracelet by instinct. Luke smirked. "Careful, I could've been a monster."

"Monster or not, I still have half a mind to give you a taste of Aegis."

Luke unzipped his jacket and pulled out a wallet from inside. "You might want to reconsider," he said in a sing-songy voice. "Look what I found."

Thalia gaped. "Where'd you get that?"

"Did you know that President Grover Cleveland had a mustache?"

Thalia's eyebrows rose. "Grover Cleveland! What bill is he on?"

Luke pulled out a wrinkled bill from the leather wallet. Thalia's eyes widened as she spotted three zeroes after the one. "A thousand dollars?! Oh my gods, is it real? I thought they only made them up to a hundred!"

Luke put the bill back in the wallet. "Well they were discontinued a while back. Today there are less than 200,000 of them still circulating. That's still a lot."

Thalia smiled, giddy at the prospect of being rich. "Who'd you steal it from? They must've been a billionaire or something!"

Luke looked through the wallet and found the driver's license. " Dare. The poor guy's only a millionaire, but I doubt he'll miss a measly thousand dollar bill. He probably has the other 199,999. Why else would he carry one in his _wallet_?"

"How do you know all this stuff? Did you swing by the library on your way back."

Luke snorted. "Have some faith in me, Thalia. I know this stuff. It's one of the only good things my dad gave me." He looked down at his hands, trying to mask the anger in his eyes. Thalia could see that the conversation was taking a darker turn, so she steered it away.

"Luke, if you'd gotten caught you'd have been in so much trouble. He probably has like, ten bodyguards."

Luke smiled. "Exactly. If I'd gotten _caught_. Luckily, I don't do that."

Thalia raised her eyebrows. "Cocky much?"

He shrugged. "After all, you're only in trouble if you get caught."

* * *

Thalia hugged the stolen backpack closer to her chest as the alarms blared on. Well, technically, it wasn't stolen. She'd left a fifty-courtesy of Lillian Grace's Coach bag-on the counter as she left. Of course, there was also the little detail that she'd broken in at two in the morning while the shop was closed. The police arrived after a minute or two. Thalia pressed her body against the wall of a building and hoped that they wouldn't check the alleyway she was hiding in.

"You stole a backpack?!" Thalia jumped as a boy appeared behind her.

She turned and glared at him. "Shut up before you get both of us caught."

He smirked, which kind of made her want to punch him in the neck, and leaned against the wall nonchalantly, like they were meeting up for coffee. "I'm just saying, that store has some pretty expensive stuff in it, and you're worried about getting caught for stealing a backpack?"

Thalia looked at the ground. "There may or may not be other items in the backpack." She met his eyes, a soft blue, and was surprised to see that he was smiling. A real, genuine smile. She hesitantly gave him one in return.

"My name's Thalia."

"I'm Luke."

The moment was interrupted by a police officer who shined a flashlight into the alley. "Hey!" he said when he saw the tag still on the backpack. Thalia's eyes widened as he ran towards her.

She sighed. "I guess I'm in big trouble now."

Luke smiled. "You're only in trouble if you get caught. Come on!"

And they ran.

* * *

Thalia, Luke, and Annabeth suppressed laughter as Grover reached for another tin can. He yelped as it gave him a shock. He tried again and this time, Thalia couldn't help but collapse on the floor with giggles. Annabeth followed and after Annabeth started laughing, Luke couldn't resist. Grover had totally deserved it for putting a worm in her hair yesterday.

Grover growled and his face turned red. "Thalia!"

"What?" she said innocently. "You don't know that it was me. It could natural."

"I dropped a worm in your hair yesterday." Grover's face was turning redder. Thalia started running. Luke called after her, "Remember, you're only in trouble if you get caught!"

Thalia shouted something PG-13 at him and Annabeth giggled.

* * *

"What were you thinking?" Thalia snapped as she wrapped his cut arm. He winced, but met her eyes.

"I was thinking that losing an arm would be a lot less painful than losing you. That hydra was getting too close to you."

Thalia hands were trembling now as she looked at him. "Luke."

His good hand pulled her closer and then their lips met. It was only second before she pulled back, but the taste of him was still on her lips.

"Luke, Annabeth and Grover are going to come back any second and-"

He pulled her behind a group of trees and smiled. "We're only in trouble if we get caught."

He pressed his mouth to hers again and she forgot everything else.

* * *

At the top of Half-Blood Hill, Thalia contemplated her options now that she was alone. Luke, Annabeth, and Grover were safe, Jason was gone, and her drunk mother was on the other side of the country. The end was finally here and Thalia had been expecting it.

The Furies surrounded her, clawing and cackling. Thalia was hardly conscious by the time the hellhounds came. She was clinging onto life with one hand now, but in her last moments she heard Luke's voice ringing out, calling her name.

She didn't have the strength to reply. Thalia looked up at the blue sky.

_I'm sorry Jason, for not being there when I should have been. I'm sorry Grover, you tried your hardest and it wasn't easy. Annabeth, someday you'll be better than I ever was. _

_Luke, I guess I finally got caught and now I'm in trouble. I'm glad you're safe, even though you're broken. I know that you still have some good in you, no matter what happens._

_Bye._


End file.
